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After a winter's worth of wind, rain, snow and sleet, summer brings with it not only sunshine and flowers, but the need to clean your home's gutters. Not exactly the way you want to spend your Saturday. But you know you need to do it to protect your home, so you drag out the extension ladder, get your spouse or one of the kids to hold it steady while you climb up to the eaves and start mucking who knows what out of your gutters.
Sound familiar? Not only is cleaning the gutters a tedious, messy chore, it is also unsafe, especially for seniors. According to the National Safety Council, falls at home account for 1.9 million disabling injuries requiring hospitalization every year. Why take chances?
Clogged and overflowing gutters aren't just a nuisance; they can lead to serious damage to your home and property. If gutters aren't functioning properly, rainwater can damage landscaping, seep into foundations and basements, and ruin the gutter itself.
To eliminate the job of cleaning gutters and protect their homes, many homeowners opt for a gutter protection system which lets rain drain through the gutters while keeping out debris. "People just decide they don't want to mess with it any more," says David Skelton, spokesperson for Gutter Helmet, the first professionally installed gutter protection system on the market.
The company pioneered the industry 22 years ago and now installs around 30,000 systems every year. "We get a lot of calls in March and April, the spring cleanup months," says Skelton. Seniors make up the largest percentage of the company's clients. "I've never had to clean my gutters in the past two and a half years," says one satisfied retiree. "I prefer to spend my time fishing and playing golf."
Gutter Helmet can handle up to 22 inches of rain per hour (twice as much rain as has ever been recorded by the U.S. Weather Bureau). "Actually, the harder it rains, the better Gutter Helmet works," says Skelton. In addition to keeping debris out of your gutters, the product also helps prevent gutter damage by minimizing standing water, slowing the freeze/thaw expansion process that occurs in cold weather.
While homeowners can buy gutter protectors at big box hardware retailers and install them on their own, Skelton notes that most of these systems have vertical openings intended to allow rain to seep through while keeping debris out. "Anything with a vertical opening can and will get stopped up," he notes. His company's system relies on an awning-like covering that allows debris to fall off the roof while directing water flow into the gutters. Rainwater enters the gutter through a factory pre-set gap in the panel designed to channel it into the gutter. The continuous water gap means there are no slots or screens to clog or clean.
Skelton points out that another benefit of his product is the fact that it can be installed using existing gutters. "Many other professionally installed systems are all one piece, meaning existing gutters must be removed and replaced," he explains. If the customer decides they don't like the system, these companies will remove the system, which also means removing the gutters -- without replacing them. "If a home doesn't have existing gutters, we will provide them; but we offer a substantial discount to customers if we can use their existing gutters," says Skelton.
The system is custom-fitted to your home by trained installers who clean, seal, check and adjust the alignment. In most cases, installation takes just one day. The company provides a product performance warranty as well as a lifetime warranty on materials and service.
"Our motto is 'never clean your gutters again,'" says Skelton. "And we mean it."
For more information or to locate a dealer near you, visit www.gutterhelmet.com or call (888) 4-HELMET (443-5638).
Courtesy of ARA Content
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